(70)
Author’s Note I
apologize for the unexpected and sudden development of the last episode .
Bagratu was conceived as such a character from the beginning, but… it seems that he appeared without sufficient convincing probability due to my lack of competence .
In my mind, I want to completely change the settings and write them again .
However, since more than 3 episodes have been written about the development since then, it has become difficult to edit …
I think many people have already left because of the last episode .
It’s like losing a cow and fixing the barn… but I’ll remember this incident and be careful not to repeat this development next time.
＜ 12. Into the crack (11) ＞
Knock, knock, knock .
The sound of dripping water echoed throughout the room. It was a barren wasteland, but this cave was possible because it was adjacent to a special space. Andrea was sitting on a large rock and meditating quietly .
It was a strange cave, as if it had been artificially created. The entrance was so narrow that you had to bend down to pass through, but the inside was as wide as a huge chapel .
Even the ceiling leading to the floor was cut into a dome shape. Even if it wasn’t for the walls where the rocks were exposed, it was to the point where I felt like I was really inside the building .
A cave at the edge of the wasteland, at the border where the rift ends .
“… you make people really troublesome .”
A stranger entered the cave. He was not an uninvited guest. It was Andrea herself who led him to come here .
Bagratu raised the visor of his helmet. Eyes burning with hatred turned to Andrea .
“ I made a mistake. I didn’t expect there to be so many hidden rewards here. But that ends here .”
After Andrea finished all the preparations, she intentionally left a lot of traces in the place where there was a hidden reward that even Bagratu would know about. So you know he’s collecting riftstones for hidden rewards .
It was an action that had to be prevented by Bagratu, who wanted to trap Andrea in the rift. This cave was the last place Bagratu reached after visiting all the hidden treasure chests he knew .
Bagratu drew his weapon. A demon that brings about the end. If I had to pick the strongest weapon in a dungeon, it would definitely be a giant bottle that could fit within five fingers. The magical energy flowing from the blade of the black ax shook his spine .
“ If you give away all the rift stones you have collected, it will be enough to break your limbs. I want to see you suffer, not die .”
“That is very fortunate. I have no intention of killing you either .”
Wriggling, blood vessels protruded from the temples of Bagratu, who had been subjected to the absurd provocation .
“ Even with all your strength, you wouldn’t be able to break my little finger .”
“ Well, you have to bump into it to know .”
Suspicion arose when he saw his confident attitude. The difference in strength was obvious to anyone. As already revealed last time, compared to Bagrati, Andrea’s strength was inferior to that of a child, no, almost that of a worm .
However, to show such an attitude means that you have prepared yourself to stand up against yourself by playing tricks .
‘… that’s funny .’
Read from noble mtl dot com
No matter how smart you are, you can’t break a rock with an egg. There is a limit to the power gap that can be overturned by strategy. In addition, Bagratu’s ax had a fraudulent property that blocked the opponent’s nonsense .
‘ No matter what kind of buffs I try to fight, it’s meaningless .’
There was no need to panic. Bagratu was a firm believer in his own strength and equipment .
Before Bagratu could move, Andrea opened her mouth .
“ Let me ask you one thing .”
“… What is it ?”
“ You knew everything about my real name, the fact that I was the player controlling you, and the fact that this world was originally a game. If so, were ‘they’ the ones who informed you of those facts on the 100th floor ?”
Who
‘ they’ meant, Bagratu knew at once. It must have been referring to those who had to fight on the 100th floor. Bagratu’s mouth held a sneer .
“ The depth of your thoughts is shallower than the water in a ditch. I can only think of ‘them’ when it comes to a subject from the ‘outside world’. Do you really believe that ‘they’ are the masters of this world ?”
Andrea’s eyes wide open. The words I just heard were no small hints that I could approach the truth of this world. Just like Arpan’s speech, although it was difficult to clearly grasp the reality .
“… Then, what kind of person is the being you met? Maybe . . .”
“ The kind answer ends here. You’ll have to trample my head to hear the rest .”
Bagratu lowered his visor. Then, he raised the ax he was carrying on his shoulder. The hideous aura that made it hard to even look straight at Andrea was oppressing him .
‘ Let’s stay calm.
As long as you don’t panic, you can face it .’
Andrea took out the Polar Dawn and drew a card from the deck .
Leap, Mana Boost, Strike, Shadowstrike .
Andrea used Shadow Strike first. The power of the powerful shadow penetrated into the sword twice. Then I used Mana Amplification and used all remaining cards .
Bagratu also drew a card from the deck. Bagratu slightly frowned as if he didn’t like it. As I waved my hand into the air, the drawn cards went back in and were replaced with new ones. That’s 8 chapters too .
Bagratu played 5 of them. Andrea doubted both eyes .
‘ Crazy, mulligan (first hand drawn) replacement and 8 draws… Besides, how high did you increase the maximum mana ?’
I was prepared, but it was quite a shocking sight. Red blood piled up around Bagratu and lashed out without stopping, and the ax blade heated up red .
’ The oath of blood, the blow of blood, is probably number 2, and even the madness that pierces through to concentration improvement…. As expected… the deck I used to fight Arachnid was camouflage, so is this the real deck? ‘
After completing his
2nd job advancement, Bagratu had two decks. Bagratu shows a relaxed attitude .
Soon a red flash flashed, and Bagratu’s figure disappeared .
Chae-Aeng !
Pa-ang !
Kurr –
Blood qi and dark qi that collide and explode. In the aftermath of the collision, the entire cave shook, and the scattered energies mixed together to create a dark red mist. Bagratu’s eyes trembled slightly as he looked beyond .
Something unexpected happened. The relaxed expression soon hardened. Bagratu intended to sever Andrea’s sword and arm with this single attack .
However, his ax bounced off the sharp blade and did not reach Andrea .
Bagratu took a step back. It was something incomprehensible to common sense .
‘ Did I just parry my strengthened attack ?’
It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Can a rabbit survive being stepped on by an elephant ‘accidentally’ ?
However, it was so unbelievable that Bagratu had no choice but to attack one after another to prove it .
Whoo – Woong, Chang! Whoo – Woong, Chang !
The attack aimed at the shoulder was bent at a right angle, and the ax swung toward the waist perfectly bounced off in an instant .
Bagratu felt uncomfortable. The attack was bouncing back with ‘the same level of force as the one he applied’. Counter-resilience that cannot be achieved by confronting a heavy ax with a thin sword .
Bagratu knew what this technique was .
‘A counterattack parry ?’
Counterattack parrying, also known as parrying .
It is a skill that can only be seen by humanoid monsters, especially high-level elites and boss monsters .
The effect is to parry the weapon or projectile, completely negating any damage from any attack. Due to its overwhelming practicality, it was ranked as the number one reason why challengers were reluctant to use humanoid boss monsters .
The face of the barbarian in the helmet crumpled .
“ How can a challenger use a counter parry ?”
Counterattack Parry is a monster-only skill. Challengers can never master the skill. At least the Baron that Bagratu knew .
But Andrea knew that even a challenger could learn to parry. All you have to do is get this adamantium bracelet right from the rift .
‘ Bracelets of counterattack. If you get this artifact, the challenger can also use parrying .’
Due to a balance problem, the exact timing had to be matched, and it deteriorated to be able to beat only cold weapons, but it didn’t matter to Andrea. Timing has been learned countless times in the game, and it was enough to deal with Bagratu just by knocking out cold weapons .
Andrea chewing and spitting out words as if mocking Bagratu .
“ Well, let me know if you can stomp on my head .”
Buduk, the sound of a barbarian grinding his teeth .
” Oh , cheeky …!”
Bagratu put the doomsday demon into the deck and charged at it with his bare body. If you use the catch technique, you cannot cope with parrying. Judgment that if you go to pure strength competition, you won’t be able to beat yourself .
It was a
hasty idea .
Andrea also put the knife in. If the enemy wants a hand-to-hand combat, it would be their duty to confront them accordingly. Bagratu dug furiously at Andrea, grabbing hold of one arm and the collar of the other. A rain pull that hits the floor in an instant .
Hung –
However, even after hitting the floor, Andrea became a ghost and suffered no damage. Bagratu overlooked the effect of the ‘Lunar Eclipse Hermit’s Garb’, which ignores damage .
The enemy’s attack failed, so it was time to start a counterattack. Andrea stood up, and Bagratu’s body floated upside down. Andrea grabbed the armor and lifted it up .
Andrea slammed Bagratu down with all his might. A heavy impact hitting the floor .
bang – !
While Bagratu fell face down for a moment, Andrea took out her status card and checked it. If Bagratu had been able to see this card in advance, he wouldn’t have rushed so rashly .
[ Name: Andrea ]
[ Class: Shadow Follower ]
[ Level : 50]
[ Max Mana : 2]
[ Strength : 212]
[ Magic Power : 170]
[ Resistance : 168 – 5]
[ Luck : 50]
[ Quirky: None ]
Trisha suggested a strategy to raise the stats by entering the monster’s lair and ‘indomitable will’, just as she did in the shantytown. If it was another enemy, it would have been a pretty good proposal, but there was one fatal problem against Bagratu .
‘The devil that calls the apocalypse has a characteristic that takes away the general buff of the enemy .’
The ax held by Bagratu had the fraudulent property of depriving enemies of their buffs just by being nearby. Therefore, it was clear that if he used that method, it would be like giving away the ability increase .
However, he couldn’t stand against Bagratu with his raw abilities. Parrying alone won’t be able to deal with all of Bagratu’s attacks .
Andrea’s solution was to get an ‘uncommon’ buff that couldn’t be taken away .
The ‘Orb of Strength’, which permanently increases the stat by 1, could be exchanged for the ‘Orb of Unstable Strength’, which increases the stat by 10 ‘limited to cracks’ at the crack shop. The effect of this orb is calculated as a stat increase, not a buff, so it exerted an absolute effect until it escaped the rift .
’ You can’t stand against Bagratu by using potions or receiving buffs. It was an inevitable choice .’
I don’t know how much Bagratu could have raised his stats with the marbles, but Andrea expected that at least this would not be pushed back by his stats .
And that prediction was right .
Bagratu was dumbfounded. He struggled to raise his body, but the shock to his mind was greater than the shock to his body. I couldn’t admit the reality that I was being helplessly defeated by a weak enemy that I couldn’t seem to lose .
Battles have a flow. A warrior who has crossed countless lines of death, Bagratu knew from experience that if he could not control the flow, he would be defeated. It was unknown what kind of wicked trick Andrea was playing, but he couldn’t let the battle go on like this .
The flow must be reversed .
Bagratu took off his gauntlet with a giant leap, opening the distance at once. Then, he took out a dagger from his subspace pocket and cut his wrist .
It’s crazy that ordinary people can’t even guess the intention if they saw it. However, Andrea immediately saw through the intent of the action .
‘ The set effect of the Blood Eater set is that all stats double when the HP drops below 50%. That’s probably what he’s aiming for.’
Even Andrea has prepared to deal with it. Andrea, rummaging through the subspace pouch, took out a potion .
On the other hand, Bagratu, who intuition that the moment when his abilities would rise gradually approached, looked ahead with a meaningful smile .
“ You did something bizarre. But from now on it will be different …”
Bagratu couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because Andrea, who used the leap, was approaching right in front of me .
In order to respond to the surprise attack, I pulled my body back slightly. However, Andrea did not come with the intention of launching a surprise attack .
Quite the opposite .
Andrea sprinkled the potion she had brought on Bagratu’s wrist .
‘ Did he spray poison? ‘
It was funny. Bagratu had the ‘Amulet of Invulnerability’ as a relic, so he was immune to all poisons. No matter what I did, I couldn’t hurt myself …
Looking at the wrist, Bagratu realized that he had a great misunderstanding .
‘… This is crazy !’
The wound on his wrist had stopped bleeding and had healed cleanly. In other words, the plan to increase the ability level by cutting the physical strength was in vain .
What was sprayed on his wrist was a hemostatic potion .
Andrea even snatched the dagger and stepped back. Andrea raises the corner of her mouth crookedly and speaks to Bagratu .
“ I told you before the fight. I have no intention of killing you. Of course, I have no intention of letting you die on your own .”
Bagratu pondered over where he had made a mistake .
Perhaps the idea of trapping this person in the rift was a bad plan. In the meantime, he tried to escape in an unexpected way, and when he saw that he was preparing to fight himself like this, it was like trying to trap a whale in the sea .
Bagratu made up his mind. To change the method of revenge. To lock him up somewhere and kill him, this guy is too cunning and knows a lot about dungeons .
‘… I’m going to kill you right here right now .’
Power went into the hand that was clenched into a fist. Blood flowed in, muscles swelled, and my heart began to beat violently .
‘… I don’t think I need to look at it anymore .’
＜ 12. Into the crack (11) ＞ End
Maybe some contract to not reveal the client or smth.
Barbarian being silent is so strange, I know he’s here with a goal but why he is so silent?
See, even the author itself understand the absurdity of that Bagratu’s… No wonder so many people left lol